Supreme Court extends stay on execution of Yakub Memon

The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the stay order on execution of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, the lone death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Memon had sought review of the capital sentence awarded to him. A three-judge bench presided by Justice Anil R Dave asked the Maharashtra Special Task Force and the CBI on his petition. The court ordered that the execution of Memon would be stayed during the pendency of his review petition against the imposition of death penalty and fixed the matter for further hearing on January 28, 2015.

“We are issuing notice,” the bench, also comprising justices J Chelameswar and Kurian Joseph, said.

Senior advocate Jaspal Singh, appearing for Memon said that neither the trial court nor the apex court gave special reasons for sending him to gallows. “The entire conviction is based on retracted confessions of several co-accused,” the lawyer said. The lawyer also alleged that Memon was convicted and then sentenced to death by the special TADA court even before the entire judgment was delivered, hence, his conviction was invalid.

Earlier, the review petitions used to be decided in chambers, but later, the apex court had ruled that such pleas, if directed against the imposition of death penalty, would be heard in open court.

The apex court had, on September 26, sought response from Maharashtra government and others on a plea of Memon that his review petition against the death penalty be heard in open court. It had also stayed the execution of Memon.